TENNESSEE
KGW
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The children’s minister at a 4,000-member Baptist church was among 32 people arrested on prostitution and human trafficking charges, state investigators announced Friday.
Two men, including the children’s minister, answered ads for what they thought they were girls under the age of 18, said Mark Gwyn, director of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
Jason Kennedy, 46, of Knoxville was charged Thursday with patronizing prostitution and trafficking. He was a children’s minister at Grace Baptist Church in the Knoxville suburb of Karns, Tenn., until his arrest; his name had been scrubbed as of Friday from the church’s website, Twitter and Facebook feeds.
Church officials have no comment, a church secretary said Friday.
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